In the Shadows
by A Bullfrog's Worst Nightmare
Summary: She took great comfort in living in her sister's shadow


**A/N: Written for the Ready…Set…Go! Challenge from the HPFC. I had to write about the character Daphne Greengrass.**

_Living in a Shadow_

She always lived in the shadow of her sister, but that's how she liked it. Since the day Astoria was born, Daphne took comfort in being second best. No one ever expected much out of the second best person.

Astoria was her parents little angel, their pride and joy. She was their everything.

Daphne began to notice at a very young age, that between every pair of sisters, there's always one much prettier than the other. Astoria just so happened to be the prettier sister. Her soft golden curls and curious baby blue eyes gave off the impression of pure innocence.

Daphne, on the hand, had fiery red hair and cat-like green eyes. Her facial features were sharper than her sisters, making her look very intimidating at times. Especially when she was irritated.

When visitors came to the Greengrass household, more often than not, they would greet Astoria first, and then reluctantly turn to Daphne and give her some sort of strained hello. Sometimes they would even forget her name.

The two sisters clashed horribly with each other and they never really got along. Daphne still remembers a time when both girls were very young and Astoria decided it would be a good idea to give her sister a brand new "hairstyle" and chopped off a great deal of Daphne's red locks.

In retaliation, Daphne attempted to make her sister eat dirt from her mother's flowerbed. Of course Astoria wasn't willing so she tried to force feed her, but their mother quickly put an end to it. Astoria never got in trouble for destroying Daphne's hair, but Daphne didn't see the light of day for two weeks.

As they got older, their relationship only worsened.

Astoria never failed to get better marks than Daphne on her tests. Her parents showered her with gifts and an endless amount of praise. Daphne, well, her parents were just lucky she hasn't dropped out by now.

Then there was that infamous day when Astoria stole Daphne's boyfriend. There they were for the whole world to see, in the middle of the common room going at it on one of the emerald green couches. Her sister's shirt was completely removed and she was sitting on Daphne's boyfriend's lap with nothing but her school skirt and her bra on.

Those boils on Astoria's face last for a little less than a month. She never even apologized after that.

They stopped talking after the war, until Daphne received an invitation to the Malfoy-Greengrass wedding. Oh, who wouldn't want to see a train wreck like that?

Daphne showed up to her sister's wedding in an incredibly revealing outfit, she got drunk, and she spent most of her time on the lap of some strange man she didn't know. Her sister was practically in tears at the scene Daphne put on.

"Why the fuck would you do that!" Astoria screamed at her when the two girls were alone together the next morning.

"Your wedding seemed a tad boring, you should be thanking me," Daphne replied simply with a slight shrug, and left her sister behind to clean up the outrageous mess she left.

Many of the wedding guests asked Daphne before the initial ceremony what it felt like to have her younger sister married off before her. As a young pureblood woman, being raised by a respectable family, not having a husband was generally frowned upon so Daphne's answer took many by surprise.

She loved having no man.

"Why can't you be more like your sister?" Daphne's mother approached her with this question throughout her entire life.

"My sister is a dirty bitch."

It was a never ending war between the two girls. From insults to physical assault, Daphne attacked from the shadows until the day she died. To outsiders, it seemed like a normal sibling rivalry, but that was just ignorance speaking. Astoria even took pleasure in the opportunity of spitting on her sister's grave.

Daphne lived a life free of restrictions and expectations in her sister's shadow. She wouldn't have had it any other way if she could.

Her greatest fault was also her greatest strength.


End file.
